“System outages and patient safety concerns associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ new electronic health record (EHR) have led to top members of the House VA Committee calling for the agency to stop future rollouts.”
“VA officials told the technology modernization subcommittee Tuesday that the VA medical center in Walla Walla, Washington, experienced EHR outages Monday and Tuesday this week.”
“In light of these and other recent outages, Cerner officials told lawmakers the company is considering a technical review of the EHR to ensure the system is stable and reliable for future rollouts.”
“VA deployed the new EHR at two sites so far — one in Spokane, Washington, the other in Walla Walla. A third go-live is planned at the end of the month in Columbus, Ohio.”
“The agency has plans for the EHR to go live at larger, more complex VA facilities in Seattle and Ann Arbor, Michigan later this year.”
“However, the subcommittee pointed to several inspector general reports that found the EHR rollout increased “risks for errors” in veteran health care as grounds for the VA stopping all future go-lives until the agency addresses these problems…” Read the full article here.
Source: House lawmakers seek VA EHR pause, ‘gravely concerned’ for patient safety – By Jory Heckman, April 27, 2022. Federal News Network.
